KAMLOOPS — I THINK IT’S IMPORTANT that we not allow the incident in the parking lot of the Kamloops RCMP detachment to pass unremarked upon.
In case you missed the news report Tuesday, the city experienced what to my knowledge is its first case of impaired parking, at least in a police parking lot.
It was after midnight when the driver in question decided to park his Ford F-350 — which is no small vehicle, by the way — in the lot behind the City detachment. If you’ve ever driven past that parking lot you’ll know that, aside from signage saying the public can’t park there, the number of clearly marked police vehicles is a sure giveaway.
The driver, who isn’t from around here, said he needed to park so he could make a phone call. At least he won’t be facing a distracted driving charge. Instead, his truck was impounded.
The average person, on an average day, is bound to demonstrate at least moderate good sense. But put that same person behind the wheel and their brain goes into neutral.
They forget to apply the brakes and drive through the front windows of stores or, like the guy who drove into a local 7-Eleven store, put their vehicles in the wrong gear. They text and tweet and talk while tearing down the highway. They change lanes without looking.
It’s good to know Kamloops isn’t the only place for such foolishness. There was, for example, the guy in Spokane who crashed into the auto licensing office on his way to renew his driver’s licence.
And the man who got his foot stuck on the gas pedal, drove into a pizza place and ordered a pizza. And, in a twist on the Kamloops story, the woman who stole a pickup truck and crashed it into a police station.
And the list goes on. People don’t need to be drunk to do stupid things when they get behind the wheel, but it helps. As the RCMP news release cautioned, don’t drink and drive, including in police parking lots.
I’m Mel Rothenburger, the Armchair Mayor.
